Strong jobs growth lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 52 points to 24,263. Nasdaq climbed 47 points to 6,859.

On the upside

Cloudera (NYSE: CLDR) narrowed third quarter losses more than expected.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) shareholder Elliott Management is asking the company to provide a plan to increase its stock price and advocating for a change to the board.

Vetr upgraded Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) from 4 stars to 5 stars.

On the downside

Tellurian (Nasdaq: TELL) priced its public offering of 10 million common shares at the discounted price of $10.00 per share.

Investors locked in profits on Ball (NYSE: BALL).

The Cooper Companies (NYSE: COO) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue but the stock price fell.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 10 points to 2,646. Bitcoin plummeted $818 to $15,481.